My 2014 attempt for a first archery pronghorn up in Montana was thwarted by 7" of rain in a 3 day hunt. 2015 looked more promising as our plane touched down in Casper, WY. The summer had started wet and then turned onto a hot and dry trend, but dark clouds from isolated thunderstorms chased our rental car up I25 to Kaycee, WY, the hometown of the late world champion cowboy and musician Chris LeDoux. My hunting buddy Ryan Henderson and i met Sandy and Penny Forbes with enough daylight to make sure our bows were still dialed in.
Saturday morning, August 15th was opening day and I watched the sun rise over the prairie from a popup blind situated over a little water pipe running down a hill side. The blind placement afforded a great view of the basin created by a few good sized hills and immediately the Leica field glasses picked up a pronghorn buck in the distance. I saw a descent buck cruise by about 300 yards out and work his way down into a draw. Several mule deer also sky lined themselves up on the ridge and I enjoyed seeing two nice velvety racks. Next thing I noticed were several prairie dogs popping up from their burrows and I quickly realized I was situated in the middle of a considerable prairie dog town.
The sun climbed higher and pronghorn would move across hillsides in the distance. The mercury was rapily climbing in my digital thermometer and before long an immature pronghorn buck came in for a drink. As the hours rolled by, several other immature bucks appeared along with some does that eventually spooked out due to swirling winds.
The temp was approaching the century mark and I had already stripped a short and was down to shorts and bare feet to try and stay cool. Lunch came and went and I kept turning page on an interesting book titled Hunter, by J.A. Hunter about his days in early Tanzania and Kenya as a professional Hunter. Jim Shockey had recommended the book on one of his TV shows and it turned out to be an excellent read.
Finally I looked up from the brown weathered pages and met the stare of a nice pronghorn buck. Sandy said the blinds had been out at least two weeks, and after a quick stare the buck paced closer and soon was drinking from the stream 75 yards away. During my summer practice sessions I had gained confidence out to 90 yards thanks to the consistency and accuracy of the SABO sight from Tactical Archery Systems. My Bowtech Experience launches the Easton Axis 340 arrows with remarkable precision from such long ranges but before I could get a broad side shot, the buck had moved closer. One of the deeper puddles in this trickle of a stream was about 25 yards away and the buck stopped there to drink.
The fickle wind continued to swirl towards the thirsty buck. At the beginning of the hunt I had sprayed some Nose Jammer concentrated vanilla across the popup blind. Perhaps it masked my scent enough keep the buck in the vicinity. By this point the buck had shied away to 45 yards and was most likely close to full on his water when I drew back and loosed my arrow. The Grave Digger broad head is a hybrid. It has a ¾” fixed blade cutting surface and once the additional two blades deploy, a 1-3/4” wound channel is opened up on the quarry.
Prior to the shot, you could see the buck standing still yet rocking slightly. It was as if his tightly string muscles were twitching with so much power and energy that they attempted to defy motionless activity. The arrow overtook the buck as he was quartering away and that collection of muscles charged the buck into lightning speed. The arrowed blazed through the vitals in the body cavity before bouncing across the prairie the and buck gained some much speed as he wheeled away that he fish tailed and skidded out briefly before gaining traction and rocketing down the hill.
Even in his haste, a crimson ribbon appeared mid body and streamed down the flanks of the retreating buck. I knew he wouldn’t be far, yet I experience made me waiting the blind for about 20 minutes to calm my nerves and reflect on the recent exciting events after the disappointment of the year before. At last I could wait no more, I recovered my arrow and found it coated in thick red blood and almost added some of my own when I stumbled in a grass-covered prairie dog hole. After a few choice words, I knew my .204 Ruger and I planned to settle that score later.
I peered over the hill and spied my prize about 80 yards away. As I approached, I could see a deep gauge where the buck had crashed and plowed the earth. When the buck ran after the shot, his 0 – 60 mph was very impressive, and by the signs in the dirt, the 60 – 0 mph tumble must have been equally impressive.
The coarse hair and distinct color marking of black white and tan were a please to behold up close and even the power odor of sage was welcome.
After photos, trophy care and a cold drink, my guide Ryan and I rode around and spent the rest of my Wyoming time enjoying the country side, and shooting prairie dogs. My father-in-law, Tim had a Ruger M77 Hawkeye in .204 Ruger that I became acquainted with and a few years later my wife Kim surprised me at Christmas with one of my very own. I had spent and evening in my fiend, Richard Linney’s garage floating the barrel with a dremel tool and then Tim took the rifle in for a trigger job. This slick platform was topped with a 4.5 – 14 Leuxpold VX-3 varmint reticle
I had ordered 100 rounds of Hornady Superformance in 40 gr Vmax to be delivered at the Forbes home and worked my way through 75 of those rounds in the prairie dog towns. We also saw a badger and even a coyote as we roamed the prairie. This was my third badger encounter in the field and the facial markings of a badger continue to impress me their beauty.